Annotation:Auld Wheel
X:1 T:Auld Wheel, The M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel C:J. Scott Skinner B:Skinner - Miller o' Hirn Collection (1881, p. 1) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:D A|d/d/d (AG FG).A.d|B/B/B (ed) .c.A.A.c|d/d/d (AF) GABd|cdec dDDA| d/d/d (AG) .F.G .A.d|B/B/B (ed) cAAc|d/d/d (AF) .G.A .B.g|fedc dDD|| g|fDFA dfaf|eEGB efge|fDFA dfaf|Efga fddg| fDFA dfaf|eEGB efga|bagf edcB|AGFE DABc||
AULD WHEEL, THE. AKA and see "Mill o' Hirn Crathes." Scottish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. Composed by J. Scott Skinner (1843-1927). Hunter notes it was one of the "birling" reels which so pleased Scott Skinner, perhaps taking his cue from the title of Skinner's 1914 recording called "Birlin Reels", a medley of "The Auld Wheel", "Spinning Wheel (1) (The)," "Bride's Reel (1) (The)," "MacKenzie Fraser" and "Fairy Dance." Skinner had earlier (1905) recorded the tune in a medley with "Miller o' Hirn (The)" and "MacKenzie Fraser." "The birl is an accent in Scottish music, much like a short drum roll. The reel has words that accompany it that appear in the beginning of Skinner's Miller o' Hirn collection, written by R. Grant, 'the Bard of Ugie', of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire. They begin:
O, leese me on my auld mill-wheel
That clicks awa' sae jaunty, O!
Boot it I'd like to sing a sang,
Tho' far frae bein' vauntie, O.
The auld wheel, the auld mill-wheel,
That never yet grew weary, O,
It's far afore your piston rods
Or steam engines sae deary, O!
The first musical strain of Skinner's "The Auld Wheel" was applied to Donegal fiddler John Doherty's "Flood on the Holm," where is forms the third strain. There is some similarity, probably coincidental, between the first strain of "Auld Wheel" and the first strain of Philip Carolan's "Leitrim Thrush (3)."
